1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic braking system for vehicles.
More particularly, the present invention relates to an automatic braking system for a vehicle of the type in which a manually operable braking system of the vehicle is controllable with at least one braking signal given in response to the need for braking.
2. Description of Relevant Art
There have been proposed a variety of automatic braking systems for vehicles including an automatic braking system for a vehicle in which the distance and relative velocity between the vehicle and a significant obstacle moving or standing ahead thereof such as a nearest preceding vehicle are always measured by means of radar or such, to thereby effect a braking of the vehicle in accordance with the possibility of collision of the vehicle with the obstacle.
In such conventional automatic braking system, there has been a desideratum such that, due to the increasing market demands for inexpensive, small-sized and light-weight vehicles with superior driving characteristics and sufficient safety and in considering the relatively rare instances in which the automatic braking in accordance with the possibility of collision is needed to be effected, it has been desired to constitute in a possibly simplified manner an automatic braking system including a minimal number of components and employing the existing components such as a braking pedal, a pedal force multiplying device and a power steering system of the vehicle with minimum modification, as necessary, while allowing same to be manually operable with their inherent operational feeling maintained and, when necessary, to have such manual braking operation prevail over the automatic control in addition to effecting such automatic braking step by step in response to the need for braking.